I promise I won’t go on about this Ten Great Composers business, but one of the comments on WQXR’s page for the podcast was kind of funny. Or rather, it was a series of comments, expressing distaste at QXR “graffiting” a “tulip” in Beethoven’s mouth. The original comment was deleted, but what no one has pointed out to the followup is that the image is actually the album artwork for a Westminster Gold Best of Beethoven LP.
I have a love for Westminster Gold LPs bordering on cult obsession. I remember distinctly their artwork for Holsts’s The Planets, which I grew up being shocked and gladdened by every time I pulled it out of the shelf in my grandparent’s basement (behind their bar, because every house built and designed in the 50s/60s had a bar).
I remember speaking with a publicist maybe six or eight months ago about their client’s newest album, which had some pretty sexy—though more standard—cover art in its own right. Their disappointment, however, was that said client’s instrument was still prominent in the artwork itself. How many mainstream/pop/rock ensembles or solo artists appear on their album covers with guitars, drums, basses, etc.? (For that matter, how many mainstream/pop/rock ensembles or solo artists appear on their album covers at all?). The classical reissue label that was Westminster was pretty damn forward-thinking in the 1970s for eschewing the standard shot of a conductor with arms raised, a violinist with instrument tucked under chin, or a soprano in full period regalia. Take, instead, the witty Julian Bream Plays Bach (taking a literal interpretation of plays), a ridiculously wonderful interpretation of Die Walkure or the striking Best of Puccini:
That’s the kind of album art I’ll get behind. Unsurprisingly, designer Christopher Whorf is perhaps more famous for working with the likes of Isaac Hayes and John Lennon. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t currently bidding on several WG LPs with an eye on decorating my front hallway with them. More examples of his insouciant takes on the more classical players after the jump.
I actually HAD some of these records! Best of Beethoven was one of my very first classical records! I always thought the covers were funny, even though I didn’t always get the joke when I was nine!
I had the Mozart and the Liszt albums too!
[...] Giovetti actually stole a blog post I had brewing of amazing album covers. I’ve been taking pictures of the [...]
At last! Someone else with my guilty pleasure! I remember the first time I saw Walkuere in a store. Made a profound impression. Still does, like all of these. Gives a good name to Kitsch.